Approximately twelve months ago at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately given the green light as the world of Formula One's newest participant for 2026. Establishing the organization from scratch has involved a hectic operating tempo that the team boss, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Vegas this race weekend, the team are aware the deadline is approaching.
The Race Against Time to Melbourne
At the last event of the championship to be staged in the America, with around 100 days to go before they make their debut for the first time in Melbourne at the 2026 season opener, the Cadillac F1 project have made significant progress but, in what must seem like a sisyphean challenge, they are conscious there will not be sufficient time.
The technical director, Nick Chester, joined the nascent team in the spring of 2023 soon after it was created, when the squad were without even an official entry. He has been at its heart from that point and has a amused expression when thinking about the journey.
“You might get a short period reflecting at what you’ve done and go: ‘Wow, isn’t this fantastic what the team has created in under three years,’” he notes. “But then the very next instant you think: ‘Yes, we still have a great deal to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Task
Chester enjoyed success at the Renault team in Alonso's victorious seasons of 2005/2006 and was in charge of engineering strategy at the new Mercedes electric racing team, but nothing has quite compared with the mission of introducing the iconic American Cadillac name, a manufacturer-backed entry supported by the owner, General Motors, into the pinnacle of motorsport.
“Establishing an grand prix team from scratch, when are you ever going to get a chance to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an well-set team you won't have the chance to alter cultural approach.”
With every day that passes minds are increasingly concentrated on the impending decisive point in Melbourne and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that a brand-new squad coming in is probably going to finish last but merely participating will be an feat in itself,” Graeme Lowdon commented recently and while the CTO agreed with this sentiment he felt the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we aim to demonstrate is that we should be there,” he emphasizes. “So that we turn up and we function efficiently. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the circuit. Once we have demonstrated that we are a legitimate team, then we will focus on progression from there on.”
Pilot Selection and Team Building Push
In August they contracted Sergio Pérez and Bottas as their racers for 2026, a pair remarkable for their invaluable experience in performing at the leading positions in two of the sport’s biggest teams, Red Bull and Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas reflected the mood of fighting spirit.
“Naturally, we have a realistic outlook,” he said. “We face a huge amount of work to do, and it’s going to be most likely a difficult start, because it's the top level of motorsport. But we aren't joining to remain at the rear. In my view with this structure, with this group, these people, there’s no reason why we won't be able to advance swiftly up to the pace and enjoy some success.”
To that end recruitment has been in top gear, with staff now reaching more than 400 and intended to attain the objective of six hundred rapidly. In addition to their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the midst of completing an headquarters at Fishers, Indiana in the Indianapolis area and there is the GM plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they are developing the center to build the 2029 engine, planned for 2029 – for now they will operate with Ferrari power units – and the Toyota's wind tunnel in Cologne. It is a sophisticated structure, contrary to the direction in the sport for more centralization, and has led to the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred to.
Apollo Inspiration
“It’s highly modelled on the NASA moon mission,” said Graeme Lowdon shortly before the Silverstone race in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we know how difficult it is. The schedules, are incredibly tight. Alright, we aren't launching a lunar mission, but the pressure is comparable.”
So they have embraced, as opposed to the usual hierarchical system, a non-hierarchical approach akin to that of the space agency's, where there were a assortment of Apollo teams all working on distinct elements of the project across a multiple sites.
“In a system where you follow a procedure where someone has a problem and they raise it up to their supervisor, that leader consults a manager somewhere else, it is relayed back, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “We give authority to people to really get on with it. Eliminating hierarchical consent for all decisions is far more efficient and quicker.”
What Lies Ahead
The efficacy of this flexible approach will be evaluated in the pressure of racing when the season begins and there is no little amount riding on this for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their test driver the emerging American Colton Herta
